The Heros of Symphonia
by A. R. Russ
Summary: Lloyd has returned to Iselia with the weight of tragedy heavy on his shoulders. Set about five years after defeating Mithos. Oneshot. Updated to fix errors and fill storyline gaps.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia.**

None of us would have imagined that saving the world would end like this. We had each silently dreaded the separation, and inwardly had tried to deny its happening. Yet, when the time came and our paths split, we didn't hesitate to leave. I look back on it now, and I wish I had said something more. Even a simple "goodbye" would have been better than just walking away. I guess I had convinced myself that it wasn't goodbye, but I had known better... didn't I? For all my hopes, dreams, and optimism I would never have pictured it all ending like this. Years of no communication had resulted in heartbreak.

Colette and I had traveled the newly rejoined world over and collected every exsphere that crossed our path. In the midst of that, we never took time to try and contact our old friends. When we did finally travel to Meltokio, Mizhou, and Altimira we tried to find our former companions, but they had moved on. Now, I sit here in Iselia, staring at the graves of my beloved half-elf friends. The discrimination that they had tried to kill had killed them, and I never knew until just moments ago. I fought the tears as I ran my hand over Genis' name. How could I have been so blind? He had died four years ago. Four years. I felt the tear slide down my face as I then looked over to the newly placed headstone.

"Colette..." I whispered. Even the companion I had been with had come to an untimely end.

A young boy had fallen off a cliff in Hima, and she was quick to pull out her wings and capture him. What she hadn't taken time to consider, though, was the reason he had fallen. A large mass of rocks had started to come loose from the abuse of a few poor dragon landings, and the boy's foot had slipped on them. By the time she looked up, it was too late and she was brought tothe ground in a sickening thud. She had managed to save the boy, although he suffered a break in both his legs and a fractured rib on impact. Colette wasn't that lucky. I held her as the blood drained almost directly from her heart onto me and the ground. It only took a few seconds for her to die, but she had taken me with her. I lost everything that day, or so I thought.

Frank and Phiadra took it hard. I felt terrible telling them that after all the time I had spent saving her; I had been unable to this one last time. That was when Phiadra told me of Raine and Genis. I didn't believe her at first. I thought that maybe she was mad and just trying to hurt me because of what I did to her granddaughter, but after seeing the graves- I knew. I asked her if she had heard anything from the others, and I watched as her eyes shaded over and turned grey.

Presea had taken extremely ill after the removal of her exsphere. Regal tried as hard as he could to fund the cure, but the woman trapped in a child's body had had enough. She passed away only six months later. Regal took her death almost as badly as he had Alicia's; Phiadra thought him to be still living, but no one had seen or heard from him since Presea's funeral.

Sheena and Zelos had done well for awhile. The two had wed and were happily living as chief/ representative and head of the church of Martel. Yet, two years into the marriage Sheena had a miscarriage which led to another miscarriage. The two became so stricken with grief that their union fell apart and they were divorced. Sheena was now totally engrossed in her work, spending all her waking hours solving the problems of her vastly growing village and creating peace between the two joined worlds. Zelos, on the other hand, had regained his title of playboy, and rumor stated that if he was awake- he was drunk.

As for Raine and Genis, they had set out on their impossible task of ending discrimination. They both knew the risk, but had valiantly moved from city to city trying to prove to the masses of people that they were more than just mishap of nature. At first, things went seemingly well, but all things- good or bad- must come to an end. They had set up camp outside of Heimdel, for they had once again been denied entry. When the sun came up the next morning, all that was left of the two were bloodly corpses. Many believe that they were murdered by one of the elves from the village; whereas, others claim that it was a set-up to raise more hatred between humans and elves. The truth, though, lay buried with the brother-sister duo.

What little was left of my heart shattered that day. The legend of the heros of Symphonia was now a sad tale. I let the tears streak down my face unhindered as I reached out and clutched the grave of my best friend. I had saved the world, and then forgotten and lost my friends. I had chosen a path of enlightenment, only to find grief and tragedy at its end. Oh great Martel, it wasn't suppose to end like this.

**End.**

**Sorry, people, but I had to get out the depressing possibility before I moved on to the lighter stuff. R&R if you get the chance.**


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